CHARLESTON — The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals partially reversed a 2010 lawsuit on claims of statute of limitations and granting of injunctive relief.
The court affirmed the circuit court's rulings that there was good cause to extend the time for service of process and that there was ample evidence of proximate cause offered during the trial.
However, the court reversed and remanded the case "for proceedings consistent with this opinion, including a recalculation of damages in light of our conclusion that the statute of limitations barred Respondent’s claims relating to the September 17, 2004, and February 1, 2008, flood events, and for entry of an order that includes findings of fact and conclusions of law in support of the award of injunctive relief."
Justice Tim Armstead authored the majority opinion, which was filed on April 26.
In 1997, Frances E. Reilley purchased a 198-acre tract of land located along Little Grave Creek in Glen Dale. Prior to that, Reilley was co-owner of the property with his brothers.
The bulk of the Reilley property is located on the east side of Little Grave Creek and the board's property is located on the west side, where John Marshall High School and its baseball field are located.
In 1984, Reilley and his brothers constructed an embankment on the right of way along the southern boundary of the property for an elevated roadway and the bridge was constructed across Little Grave Creek and became known as Duck Lane.
For 20 years there were no issues until Hurricane Ivan passed through the Upper Ohio River Valley in 2004 and a large amount of rain that fell caused Little Grave Creek to overflow and the baseball field to flood. After that, there were three more flooding events in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
The school board then filed a lawsuit against Reilley and sought to have Duck Lane removed. Reilley argued the 2004 and 2008 flooding events were outside of the statute of limitation. The case went to trial and a jury found that Reilley was liable for damages in the amount of $122,861.79. Reilley's estate then appealed.
"Because the flooding events causing damages were occasional, intermittent, and recurring, they were temporary in nature," Armstead wrote. "In such cases we have stated that the damages a plaintiff may recover is limited to damages that fall within two years prior to the filing of the complaint."
Because of this, the circuit court erred in denying a motion for summary judgment on the statute of limitations issue.
Armstead wrote that the circuit court also failed to follow the mandate of Rule 52(a), and because of that, the Supreme Court remanded this matter with directions for the circuit court to enter an order that complies with the mandate of Rule 52(a).
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals case number: 20-0849